... narratives from a textile artist's life where specific ideas or techniques have their origins from personal experiences, collections or teaching. I have many areas of interest - usually arts & crafts related.

Friday, April 8, 2016

I get many enquiries from potential customers regarding alterations to "Special Occasion" such as bridal & prom dresses & they usually have one thing in common ... fit!! In many instances, at the initial phone enquiry (& a few questions later), I first suggest sourcing good underwear before visiting me to look at the potential alteration. It is surprising how many "badly fitting" dresses can easily be cured by wearing GOOD FITTING underwear.

It is equally surprising that many bridal outfits are chosen for purchase without the correct underwear being worn at the first "trying on session" ... so many bodice problems can be corrected with a well-made boned corset. AND when worn correctly, the dress will fit over it & will then be easily fastened.

An extensive range of underwear is available from " What Katy Did ", a London company who specialise in an extensive range of underwear - their under garments being inspired by 1940s & 50s Hollywood glamour. Below are 2 brilliant "What Katy Did" videos (from YouTube) showing how to lace up & take off a boned corset - I've come across so many customers who don't know how to put on or fit this type of garment.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

I'm VERY slowly advancing with the dog fur knitting - here's the latest length of the shawl with the first stripe of the darker yarn now complete. I've gone back to the initial colour for another banding of it before introducing the darkest yarn:

Several "silly but infuriating" problems have been experienced to date:

the interchangeable needles I started knitting the shawl with, with were not working as well as when there were fewer stitches on the needle. The interchange section kept coming undone but I don't think as a result of the needles themselves. The lace stitch pattern (ie. wool over needle part) + the increasing stitches + stitch markers were all having a tendency to get "caught up". With the increasing width, the needle & cord interchange would untwist with the result that the stitches just dropped off the needle midstream of a pattern!!!

Changing the needle to a standard circular one cured this problem but caused another!!! As this needle was a standard but longer length, the increase in width from 100 to 200 stitches has led to the knitting being somewhat "squashed" across the needle. With the lace pattern being a series of 'yarn overs', some stitches have a tendency to 'stick' together with the problem then of stitches being lost!!!

The initial stitch markers I was first using were changed to a 'safety pin' style one as the earlier ones just kept getting caught in the yarn/stitches (&/or dropping off) as the width of knitting began to increase.

A few initial problems when started (see earlier blogs), led me to handwrite the original pattern in full. Although the main pattern is a repeat over a specific number of rows, the further decision to maintain the pattern re-write has been a very good one especially as a means of keeping an eye on the stitch count!!

As the knitting has developed, the lace pattern appears to resemble PAWS (see below) - rather nicely I think!!

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Somewhere around top of shoulder level (& it's quite difficult to see exactly where), I've just begun the first colour change. It's the darker mixed fur - generally that from lower ruff & body sides. I'm not exactly sure how much of this I'll complete but envisage somewhere upper arm distance.